𝙳𝙴𝙲𝙴𝙸𝚅𝙴𝙳 |ᶰʲᵐ

Chapter 21

"stop worrying," Shinrae exclaims. The couple was currently seated in a bus, on their way to Shinrae's intended destination. Back to Seoul. She had a plan, not quite but she pictured one. Jaemin on the other hand, was concerned.

Jaemin was seated near the window, staring outside with the wind hitting his face. He decided to take off his cap, just an early precaution so that it doesn't get blown away by the wind. Shinrae tilted her head as she look up to see him enjoying the cool outdoor breeze. She smiled.

She knew he was worried, being back in the city with people looking for him but she felt the same as well. She still decides to go for it, she insisted that they should do it just this once. All they had to do is to be careful.

Shinrae began to sigh as she leaned back, making herself comfortable in her seat. She looked around in the bus, she was thankful that there wasn't much passengers who rode with them. Out of notice, she was then startled by the sudden skinship as she felt her hand in another. She turned to see Jaemin grabbing ahold of her hand, intertwining his fingers around hers. The two looked at each other with a smile, as she then laid her head against his shoulder, just waiting for the bus to arrive towards their destination.

-

"this is going nowhere," the little boy jisung begins to whine. The four were now taking a quick break, grabbing something to eat at a cafe around the area. With hours of driving, asking and searching around places, they got nothing. Not even a clue whatsoever. They were all silent, clearly tired after hours of their hardwork. Mark was sitting down with his head laid low, frustrated and dissapointed. He began to lose hope.

"guys, we don't we just stop-"

"alright guys lets eat up," Kun cuts off Mark as he was the waitress coming towards them with a tray full of food. He thanked her as he helped her hand out the food to the others. Mark turned to look at Kun who was now mixing his noodles vigorously. The others noticed his behavior too as they looked at him, getting scared.

Not long after, he stopped as he then stared at the audience infront of him. Hands firmly placed on the table, he sighed while looking at them one by one.

"look,"

"i know this is hard for all of us, but we can't just give up," he started.

"we can do this. if we still can't find him today, then its okay. We did what we could but let's keep in mind, Jaemin is a smart boy and i do believe that he will come back to us one day," he explained to them with a smile. After hearing what Kun had to say, they knew what he said was true. Those words helped to motivate them.

"let's give it a try," the three turned their attention towards Mark.

"who knows what sort of miracle might come upon us," he smiled.

-

Jaemin froze at the sight infront of him. The two had finally arrived at Seoul about half an hour ago and Jaemin had let Shinrae lead the way. He has been quite cautious of his surroundings, getting more petrified as they passed through more familiar streets. Shinrae noticed her hand getting squished by him.

There they stood, a few feet away from one of the popular cafes in Seoul. His family cafe. The cafe was open, it wasn't packed but also wasn't empty. The area can be described as spacious. The buildings filled with various kinds of shops facing eachother with a huge padded brick floor decorated with flowers,trees and side benches. Shinrae dragged Jaemin as they sat down on one of the benches, facing the cafe.

"h-how did you know?" he spoke as he untuck his mask around his right ear then turned to look at her. She looked back to see his eyes watery as a tear began to shed down his cheek. She went forward to wipe off his tear as she then caressed his cheek.

"your fanbase of course, it wasn't that hard," she said as he chuckled.

"i know you must miss them a lot so that's why i brought you here, do you want to go inside?" he shook his head in response.

"no, here is okay," she nodded.

The two sat there as they stared up towards the cafe from afar. He was able to see his mom serving the customers with her usual heart warming smile, and his dad by the cashier with his big tacky square glasses that would always makes him smile, accepting customers pay.

"she's beautiful," she spoke.

"-your dad looks-"

"-really cute in those glasses," she said, as the two began to laugh. Jaemin turned his attention back towards the cafe, as his gaze turned to his mother who was now by the cashier talking to her husband. She blinked as her eyes began to wander. Her eyes landed on the couple sitting way further facing the cafe. Shinrae quickly broke contact with them as she looked the other way. Jaemin lowered his head, putting his mask back on, nervous as his feet then began to tap on the floor.

"j-jaemin?" Ms.Na muttered under her breath as her eyes squinted at the couple. Jaemin slowly looked up as he instantly made eye contact with his mother. Eyes widen, he grabbed Shinrae's hand and dragged her away out of the area.

"jaemin," she breathed out with her hand covering her mouth as she watched the two instantly disappear from her sight. Mr. Na noticed his wife's sudden state and action as he stood up away from the cashier table and up in front of his wife. He held her shoulders as he watched her as she her eyes began to water.

"honey, hey," he looked into her eyes.

"look at me, what happened?" he said as she then did what she was told.

"h-honey its jaemin, he was there," she stuttered as she pointed towards the bench both Shinrae and Jaemin was seated earlier. Mr.Na turned around, looking at the empty bench as he then gave his wife a hug.

"shh its okay,"

"he will come back to us soon, i know he will" he said in the hug. A few customers turned their attention towards them, worried about her. A woman came forward to ask as Mr.Na responded with a thumbs up, mouthing out "its okay" to her.

"please," he mumbled to himself, begging for what he said would soon turn to reality.